Walker's injury dampens Cubs' victory

The alternative was falling into a tie for last place, so Sunday's 12-inning 6-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers normally would have created a huge celebration.

But the Cubs' clubhouse was subdued after second baseman Todd Walker was hospitalized with what could be serious ligament damage in his left knee after a 10th-inning collision at second base.

"As happy as we are on one side, we're sad on the other," manager Dusty Baker said.

Test results showing the extent of the injury to Walker are expected before Monday's game against San Diego, but he is not expected in his customary second spot in the lineup for some time.

It is a big blow to the Cubs, who struggled the entire series against the Brewers. In fact, Baker was left with only one position player Sunday and used 13 relievers in the three days, including seven in Friday's 12-inning loss.

Things got so bad Sunday that reliever Glendon Rusch batted for himself to lead off the 11th inning, but Baker would have used his last player, backup catcher Henry Blanco, in the 12th inning if Todd Hollandsworth hadn't ended it.

Hollandsworth banged a chopper over a drawn-in infield, scoring Jeromy Burnitz, who had tripled, and making a winner of Rusch, who survived three shaky innings.

"These are great games to win, especially early in the year," Rusch said. "The more of these games you pull out, the better off you'll be later in the year."

Former Brewers Rusch and Burnitz are used to these baseball brouhahas with their neighbors from the north.

"It's unbelievable," Burnitz said. "We did this pretty much every game when I was with the Brewers."

It took more than four hours to complete Sunday's game because neither team could score after the sixth inning.

Burnitz finally helped end it with his booming triple, Derrek Lee was walked intentionally and then Hollandsworth closed it out with a ball that normally would have been an easy out.

"I was just trying to hit a bullet into the outfield," Hollandsworth said.

The afternoon ended in wind, cold and a half-empty stadium, far from the sunshine and 39,076 fans at the start. It was such a long day that a second straight mediocre performance from Greg Maddux was almost forgotten.

After two starts covering 10 innings, Maddux has allowed 15 hitsincluding four homersand two walks for eight earned runs and a 7.20 ERA.

In just five innings Sunday, Maddux yielded nine hits and a walk. He was lifted for a pinch-hitter with a 4-2 deficit. It could have been worse if not for a pair of double-play grounders and a runner caught stealing. And this was a team against whom he was 10-2 lifetime and 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA last season.

If there is any encouraging news, it's that Maddux also started slowly last season. He didn't win his first game until April 23 and after the first month was 1-2 with a 5.65 ERA.

"He was like he usually is this time of year, not very sharp," Baker said.

"It could have been worse," Maddux said.

Same for the outcome.

Cubs hitters took Maddux off the hook with a three-run sixth inning, sparked by Burnitz's leadoff double. Corey Patterson's infield single drove in the third run. If the next batter had gotten a hit instead of hitting into a double play, the game might not have gone 12 innings and Walker might not have been hurt. That batter was Walker.